Key manufacturers are placing increasing importance on leveraging branding opportunities on the flourishing Bathurst 12 Hour.
Since the introduction of the GT3 Class in 2011, the quality of machines, drivers and car company representation has exploded.
Activation zones and corporate presence have swelled at the Mount Panorama circuit.
This weekend Nissan, AMG, BMW, Audi, Ferrari, McLaren, Bentley and Porsche, Aston Martin and Lamborghini, to varying extents have off-track presence as well as on track.
AMG has generated interest with the presence of the AMG GT R which set a production car lap record (2:16.5s) at the circuit with Mercedes legend Bernd Schneider at the wheel.
Ferrari has a prominent display near the circuit’s Harris Park entrance with a collection of exotic stemming from the LaFerrari to the cult F40 from the 1980’s
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The Maranello maker has a massive marquee at the start of the ‘manufacturers walk’.
Jerry Stamoulis, product communications at Mercedes-Benz Australia, confirmed to Speedcafe.com that both the local arm and head office have circled the Bathurst 12 Hour as a major event for the German marque.
“It’s in our calendar every year. It’s set in stone,” Stamoulis said.
“They (the AMG factory) know road cars; they know race cars.
“So the Bathurst 12 Hour is on our parent company’s list of must-do, must be at, and must integrate our customers as best we can, because that’s what they love.”
Stamoulis also revealed the head office’s excitement at the appearance of the AMG GT R, which lapped the Nordschleife late last year in a blistering 7:10.9s, at Mount Panorama.
“The AMG GT R launched in Portugal in December, so this is actually the first time in the world, post-launch, that the vehicle has actually been shown.
“When we told them (AMG) what we wanted to do, they just said; ‘once he’s done the lap, we want the images straight away.’
“They’ve shared the 360-degree video, it’s had about 80,000 (views) already (within 24 hours).
“It’s an amazing car, Bernd’s an amazing character and driver, and to have him in that vehicle around Mount Panorama was a dream come true.”
Nissan’s branding effort with a special paddock area behind its team’s garages is one of three zones the Japanese maker occupies at the circuit which also includes a balcony seating area fashioned out of a semi-trailer inside Hell Corner.
Mitch Wiley, Nissan’s senior marketing manager, said the unique flavour of the Bathurst 12 Hour allowed the manufacturer to target a different market.
“The difference we found with the 12 Hour if you compare it to the Supercars Bathurst 1000 is that it seems to be a different tribe,” Wiley told Speedcafe.com.
“GT-R’s have such a cult following in Australia.
“Even through your site (Speedcafe.com) with some of the surveys that you run, you can tell the difference of where we sit when people say; ‘who do you want to win on the weekend?’
“I think Nissan was second in one of those polls, so for us it’s a different audience to speak to.”
The once-around-the-clock race has also fallen at a fortuitous time for Nissan, with the brand-new $300,000 GT-R NISMO set to launch in Australia this week.
“It’s exactly what we’re racing on track, so it was perfect, and for a niche car that won’t sell many because it is a supercar, it’s pretty important to be able to launch it at something that’s relevant and you wouldn’t get anything more relevant than this event.”
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